Breeding and Welfare in Companion Animals

1 Breeding and Welfare in Companion Animals The Companion Animal Welfare Council’s Report on Welfare Aspects of Modifications, through Selective Breeding or Biotechnological Methods, to the Form, Function, or Behaviour of Companion Animals Syringomyelia in Cavalier King Charles Spaniel This cover illustration is a magnetic resonance image 1 of the head and neck region of a 16- month, female Cavalier King Charles spaniel (which had a 3 month history of yelping and tendency to scratch at the right shoulder). The arrow shows where the back part of the brain (cerebellum and medulla) is pushed into the canal into which, normally, only the spinal cord passes. Resulting abnormal cerebrospinal fluid pressure in the spinal cord has caused syringomyelia - the formation of fluid-filled cavities (the pale distensions marked with the asterisk) in the spinal cord. This disease which is due to a hereditary mismatch of brain and skull design, resulting in inadequate skull capacity, occurs commonly in Cavalier King Charles spaniels and is associated with signs of chronic, and in some cases severe, neck pain in a proportion of affected dogs. This condition illustrates how selection for particular traits can have unforeseen serious side effects on welfare. Although the particular aspect of appearance or behaviour the then breeders were wittingly or unwittingly selecting for, that led to this disease, is unknown, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel breed was developed in the 1920s in response to a reward offered for recreating a toy spaniel with a longer nose as depicted in portrait paintings of King Charles II. The modern breed is descended from about six animals. 1 We are grateful to Clare Rusbridge BVMS DipECVN MRCVS for this midsagittal TW2 weighted magnetic resonance image of the brain and cervical spinal cord.

Breeding and Welfare in Companion Animals

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